Editorials

The hilarious mind-boggling Republican presidential primaries are providing a bang-up opening to the silly season. Who would have thought that the party of Dwight Eisenhower and Robert Taft, sober and sincere fellows who ceremoniously duked it out on my grandparents’ 13-inch round TV screen, would come to this? Who are these people anyhow? And what’s become of the Real Republicans—are they being held hostage by the Koch Brothers in some undisclosed location?

The many-billionaire Kochs, like their protégé Texas Governor Rick Perry, are dead stupid—but unlike Perry they were born rich and stupid. Now that Perry’s coherence problems have proved to be too much even for the Republican primary electorate, they might have to put their money elsewhere. Their first favorite, Herman Cain, was smarter, but not as smart as he thought he was, so he’s gone too.

The Kochs’ main asset—that would be money, money, money—seems to have changed the odds in Iowa. The attack ads on Newt Gingrich, who proved to be too much even for conservative money-men to swallow, brought him down. They were financed by one or more Super-Pacs, the new predators spawned by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision removing limits on individual contributions to independent groups.

But even with expensive third-party attacks on Newt, Mitt Romney—who’s not a Real Republican of the old school but can play one on TV—wasn’t able to improve on his modest one-voter-in-four base of supporters. The rest of the votes went to assorted self-styled conservatives beloved of the Tea Party and other ideological groups.

These have been able to funnel many unmarked bills into the primaries, earmarked for any candidate still breathing who is willing to espouse their antediluvian tenets. In Iowa, the winner turned out to be Santorum. He’s the most charismatically challenged of the bunch, but at least he doesn’t seem to have a secret mistress lurking in his background.

The new breed of Super-Pacs have already radically changed politics. The best window on how they work is provided by comedian Stephen Colbert’s Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, which is both a parody and a genuine fully functioning Super Pac which does idiotic things with its cash.

Donations to Super Pacs are reported infrequently, if at all, unlike donations directly to candidates. They can come from corporations of all stripes, as well as from wealthy individuals who want to keep their identities secret. And the mischief they’re doing in the Republican primary will be multiplied in the 2012 general election at all levels of government.

But it can’t happen here, can it? Does California law allow corporate money to be funneled indiscriminately into our elections? Yes, it does.

Case in point (and this might surprise you if you haven’t been reading the Planet for long): in October of 2010 a glossy mailer touting Berkeley Ballot Measure R, a pro-development initiative, was sent to Berkeley voters before the November election. It prominently featured the name and logo of the Sierra Club, so the unwary recipient (most of us) would never know that it was actually paid for by Chicago billionaire Sam Zell’s Equity Residential Corporation, which had already bought up the lion’s share of new downtown Berkeley apartment rentals and wants to build even more of them. Full details can be found here.

Berkeley’s relatively strong campaign regulations revealed (to those who knew how to do the research online or read the Planet) who funded this mailer, just a month before the election, but that doesn’t happen everywhere in California. And the information about who paid for it should have been on the piece itself in the first place, which Berkeley law doesn’t require.

If “good guys” like the Sierra Club can be suckered by corporate cash, you can bet that the bad guys will also be available for purchase at election time. Now, however, there’s a new proposal to put a stop to the practice of concealing fiscal sponsorship of campaign propaganda of all kinds.

Common Cause is launching its campaign for the California DISCLOSE Act on Sunday.

From the invitation to the kickoff event: “The California DISCLOSE Act (Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections, AB 1148) will require disclosure of who is funding political TV, radio, print, and slate mailers on the ads themselves. It will stop corporations and special interests from hiding who is paying for ads.”

“AB 1148, the California DISCLOSE Act, would fight back against unlimited hidden spending on campaigns by letting voters know who REALLY is paying for political ads — on the ads themselves. Authored by Assemblymember Julia Brownley and sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign, AB 1148 would amend the Political Reform Act of 1974.

“California DISCLOSE Act Provisions:

Requires the three largest funders of political ads to be clearly identified with their names and logos — on the ads themselves, so voters know who is actually paying for them.

Applies to all television ads, radio ads, print ads, mass mailers, and websites for or against state and local ballot measures, and to independent expenditures for and against candidates. It applies whether ads are paid for by corporations, unions, or millionaires.

Tells voters where to find the details — Requires ads to list a website with greater disclosure and a link to the Secretary of State's website

Will "pierce through" hidden funders by requiring political ads to report their three largest actual contributors, no matter how many committees or groups their contributions pass through.

Applies to slate mailers: Requires slate mailers to show when ads are paid for by independent expenditures.

Requires candidates to appear and say they "approve this message", just like federal candidates.

Tells voters where to find the details — Requires ads to list a website with greater disclosure and a link to the Secretary of State's website

Will "pierce through" hidden funders by requiring political ads to report their three largest actual contributors, no matter how many committees or groups their contributions pass through.

Applies to slate mailers: Requires slate mailers to show when ads are paid for by independent expenditures.

Requires candidates to appear and say they "approve this message", just like federal candidates.”

If this sounds good to you, and you’d like to join the effort, the Common Cause kickoff event will take place this Sunday, January 8, from 2:00-4:00 pm, at the San Francisco Main Library. Expected to attend are Tom Ammiano, Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fiona Ma, Supervisor John Avalos, and Senator Mark Leno.

It’s co-sponsored by California Clean Money Campaign, Bernal Heights Democratic Club, Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club, the League of Women Voters of SF, Potrero Hill Democratic Club, California Common Cause, San Francisco for Democracy, San Francisco Green Party and the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition, with others to be announced.

Invitees are asked to RSVP and register. If you have questions, or want more information, call Helen Grieco at (415) 531 1774.